A Controller for Automated Drifting Along Complex Trajectories
Abstract
The ability to operate beyond the stable handling limits is important for the overall safety and robustness of autonomous vehicles. To that end, this paper describes a controller framework for automated drifting along a complex trajectory. The controller is derived for a generic path, without assuming operation near an equilibrium point. This results in a physically insightful control law: the rotation rate of the vehicle's velocity vector is used to track the path, while yaw acceleration is used to stabilize sideslip. To accurately achieve these required state derivatives over a broad range of conditions, nonlinear model inversion is used in concert with low-level wheelspeed control. Experiments on a full-scale vehicle demonstrate excellent tracking of a trajectory with varying curvature, speed, and sideslip.
Publication Location
14th International Symposium on Advanced Vehicle Control (AVEC 2018)